'The rich' have done nothing to merit punishment

East Valley resident Tom Patterson (pattersontomc@cox.net) is a retired physician and former state senator.

Demagogues know that when times are tough, you can’t go wrong
dissing the well-off. FDR in his day called out the “malefactors of
great wealth.” He never succeeded in spending his way out of the
Great Depression, but he was great at getting re-elected.

Barack Obama likewise lashes out at “the rich” as he vainly
thrashes about striving to create jobs and grow the economy through
government manipulation. He repeatedly insists that those notorious
“millionaires and billionaires” deserve to have more of their money
taken to support runaway government spending.

In fact, imposing “fairness” on the rich is his key to resolving
the debt ceiling crisis, to stabilizing the economy and to
balancing the federal budget. In his Sept. 17 address to the nation
about his latest job creation effort, he went to the well again,
stating that while his bill would “cut taxes for every working
family” it would “ask millionaires and billionaires” to pay their
fair share for this latest scheme.

You can see why this is doomed to fail while you marvel at the
use of the word “ask.” Forcing the rich (also known as “the
productive” and “successful at satisfying the needs of others”) to
give more to government moves funds out of wealth-creating
activities and into a money pit. That never has worked before, and
won’t this time either.

Interestingly, Obama doesn’t incite much resentment by publicly
trashing high earners. One reason is that he gets along with them
privately. He vacations and hobnobs with them. Wall Street banks
are able to still award million-dollar bonuses because his
government paid off their investment losses through TARP.

Crony capitalism in the form of subsidies for green jobs and
other favored causes makes it worthwhile to be the administration’s
friend. Meanwhile, the lucky recipients of our tax dollars support
Obama lavishly with their political gifts and offerings. You didn’t
really think that billion-dollar kitty for his 2012 campaign was
coming from wage workers, did you?

Warren Buffett, one of the world’s wealthiest people, helps
stoke the resentment of his class. He’s considered a guru by Obama
and serves as an economic adviser, not exactly a highly coveted
credential at this point. Still, he gets approval for claiming that
his tax rates are lower than his secretary’s, with the obvious
conclusion that the wealthy are undertaxed.

But the example is ludicrous, since “his” income in the main is
turned over to his foundation, which is tax-exempt because it
assumedly serves the common good.

The facts are also against Mr. Buffett’s wider presumptions.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, middle-class families
in 2007, earning between $34,000 and $50,000, paid 14.3 percent of
their income on all federal taxes, while the top 1 percent paid
29.5 percent overall.

Moreover, our income tax has become decidedly more progressive
over the last quarter-century, to the point where now over half of
all U.S. households pay no income tax at all. Over one-third of all
income taxes are paid by the top 1 percent and three-fourths by the
top 10 percent.

Yes, the rich got richer, but not by avoiding taxes. The share
of taxes paid by the wealthy increased more than their share of
income during the infamous George W. Bush administration. According
to the OECD, we have the most steeply graduated tax rates of any
developed nation.

How much is enough? “We simply cannot afford these special lower
rates for the wealthy,” Obama claimed in his jobs speech,
mindlessly repeating the mantra. For him, it may be more than the
money. In 2008, candidate Obama said he would raise the capital
gains rate even if it didn’t generate more revenue “for purposes of
fairness.”

Obama has lived his life in a world where the economy is fixed
and the only way the poor can see justice done is if the rich are
separated from their ill-gotten gains. Class envy is baked into his
consciousness.

But the wealthy have their role. They provide capital,
innovation and jobs. They shouldn’t have their financial losses
backstopped by taxpayers, but they shouldn’t be punished either.
President Obama should back off.

• East Valley resident Tom Patterson (pattersontomc@cox.net) is
a retired physician and former state senator

East Valley resident Tom Patterson (pattersontomc@cox.net) is a retired physician and former state senator.

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